Closer to You
by gallaghergirlmacey
Summary: Alex has had a rough, tiring week. Charlie broke up with her, and when she starts talking to Joel, she realizes that maybe it isn't such a bad thing.


**Hey! This is just a really short one-shot of Joel and Alex that I wrote last night. I hope you like it :)**

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"Having another coffee?"

Alex pressed the button on the coffee maker, heard the familiar brewing sound, and turned around to come face to face with the (gorgeous) doctor. She rubbed her eyes and tried to smile, but it ended up being pretty weak. She was just beyond exhausted and couldn't comprehend any intelligent thoughts.

"I'm tired," she said lamely.

Joel smirked, amusement displayed in his brown eyes. "Busy day?"

"Busy _week_." She corrected. The coffee machine beeped, startling her barely conscious state, and she grabbed her coffee and took a big gulp- which turned out to be a bad idea because it was burning hot. "I haven't been getting much sleep."

Joel sat down on the counter and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes. "I feel you. This new promotion has been hectic." He then opened his eyes and looked at her. "What about you?"

She sighed and looked down. Alex hadn't really talked to anyone about it- she hadn't even really thought about it. Whenever her mind wandered to the subject, she quickly busied herself with something else. It wouldn't be a bad idea, though, to finally talk about it. Maybe she'd understand the situation better and be able to fix it.

Sitting on the counter beside Joel, she said, "Charlie and I broke up."

It was quiet for a bit, and Alex was starting to think that this was a very, very bad idea but he finally spoke up. "To be honest, off all the things I thought you'd say, that wasn't one of them."

Alex glanced over at him, confusion clear on her face. "Why?"

He started fumbling around with a napkin, avoiding her gaze. "Thought you two were the 'perfect couple.' Hell, the staff voted you two as the couple of the year."

"Yeah, well, things change," was her response. It came out bitter, harsh. She wasn't sad- she was _frustrated_. Frustrated as to why all this crap happened to her. Charlie and her were supposed to get married! Have a family, buy a dog, eat apple pies for dessert.

Joel tore his gaze away from the napkin and into Alex's hazel eyes. "I know."

And maybe it was from the lack of sleep that Alex had gotten, or maybe it was her anger towards Charlie, but her heart skipped a beat and her stomach felt like a home to butterflies. Her eyes travelled down his face until they reached his lips, and her breathing hitched a bit. Their faces were already pretty close, so if she leaned in just a bit…

Alex slid her hand that was on the counter forward until it reached Joel's hand. She glanced up at his eyes to see that he was staring at their hands. The corners of her lips tugged back in a smile, because of all the years she knew Joel, _he _was the one making the moves. But now that he wasn't, now that _she _had the control, it was obviously making him uncomfortable.

"Alex…" he whispered, his voice raspy.

Using her other hand, she placed a finger against his lips and said, "shhh." She slid her hand to the side so that it was cupping Joel's face, and she moved in, their lips almost touching.

Joel groaned impatiently. "You can't just lean in really close and not kiss someone."

"I was building up to the moment." Alex replied, and she would've rolled her eyes if they weren't closed.

"I've been waiting for this moment long enough already." Joel said.

"Really? How lo-," and before Alex could finish her sentence, Joel closed the distance between their lips.

Joel's hand- the one not holding onto Alex's- moved up to cup her face, while Alex slid her hand down to rest on his chest. She leaned in a bit more, deepening the kiss. She forgot what it felt like to kiss him, to feel his hand on her face. She thought it was going to feel wrong, but somehow it felt right. Like Joel was the one she was supposed to kiss, the one she was supposed to marry and have kids and eat apple pie desserts with.

She felt happy.


End file.
